Please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Acts chapter 2.
Continue this morning our study of Luke's second volume of the work of Christ.
The work of Christ.
We see in the Gospel according to Luke, the account of Jesus' earthly ministry as told by Luke.
And then here we find in the book of Acts, Luke's account of Jesus' heavenly ministry.
The way in which He works now in His people.
And we find ourselves woven into this redemptive story as the continuation of that very work.
This morning we'll take our second look at Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 12.
Last week I expressed to you that in my study of it,
there was just too much that is good to be said about these 12 verses to try to tackle it in a single week.
I must admit I'm still feeling that way, although I will wrap our study of verses 1 through 12 up today
and then look for further opportunity, and it abounds throughout the book of Acts,
to talk more about what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Last week I stripped out the historical significance of the sending of the Spirit of God
and the way in which God did so.
I pointed out to you that God reigns sovereignly over redemptive history.
That in Leviticus chapter 23, when He gives the prescription for the feasts of Israel,
that He was outlining this time.
The death of Christ.
The resurrection of Christ.
And now on the day of Pentecost, 50 days later,
the sending of the Spirit of Christ.
My hope in last week was that your heart would be moved to worship.
What a God we serve,
who way back in Leviticus 23 was already planning the redemption of His people.
And we are part of that redemptive story,
and the sending of the Holy Spirit has great significance for us today.
Recall so far in the book of Acts chapter 1,
there's a short account of Jesus' post-resurrection ministry.
Verse 3 reads,
He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs,
appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And then verse 4 and 5,
Jesus gives to them a command to stay in Jerusalem
and wait for the promised Holy Spirit.
Verse 4 reads,
And while staying with them,
He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for the promise of the Father,
which He said,
You heard from Me,
verse 5,
for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.
Verse 8,
there's a promise of power for the fulfillment of their purpose.
Jesus says,
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.
And then verse 9,
He ascends.
He goes up to the right hand of the Father,
giving Him the ability now to send the Helper,
the Spirit.
And 10 days later,
that promise of power is fulfilled.
And that purpose that He set forth for them
in the Great Commission,
Matthew 28,
and the restating of it here in chapter 1,
verse 8,
takes off.
That's what we have before us today.
What a blessing to have an account of this
for our study.
Beloved, this is God's Word to us.
It was written for His glory
and for our good.
We would all do well to listen to it
in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
Chapter 2, beginning in verse 1.
When the day of Pentecost arrived,
they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven
a sound like a mighty rushing wind,
and it filled the entire house
where they were sitting.
And divided tongues as of fire
appeared to them
and rested on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other tongues
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem
Jews,
devout men from every nation under heaven.
And at this sound,
the multitude came together
and they were bewildered
because each one was hearing them speak
in his own language.
And they were amazed and astonished,
saying,
Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans?
And how is it that we hear each of us
in his own native language?
Parthians and Medes
and Elamites
and residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus in Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya
belonging to Cyrene
and visitors from Rome,
both Jews and proselytites,
Cretans and Arabians.
We hear them telling in our own tongues
the mighty works of God.
And all were amazed and perplexed,
saying to one another,
What does this mean?
And so we see this account
of the disciples.
It's probably right to presume
that this is that approximately
120 people that we saw in chapter 1,
likely gathered in this very same
upper room.
The particular details
aren't given to us,
but we know that they're all together
and they're in a house.
And the Spirit of God comes to them
both audibly and visually.
And they began to speak
of the mighty works of God
in various known languages.
For this text,
we're going to bring it down.
Known languages.
They speak the mighty works of God.
And we have this list of people
from all over,
essentially the known world.
Luke's trying to show us
the broad nature
in which the gospel went forth
to these people.
Both those who were Jews
and those who were proselytites
or converts to Judaism.
And they're here in this place
and they ask the question,
what does this mean?
And so as last week
we pulled out much of that
historical significance,
this morning I want to frame
the sermon with three questions.
1.
Number one,
what is the baptism
of the Holy Spirit
that Jesus promises
in chapter 1, verse 5?
That's important.
He makes a promise
that's fulfilled
in Acts chapter 2.
So what is
the baptism of the Holy Spirit
that Jesus promises
in chapter 1, verse 5?
2.
Secondly,
what is meant by
they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit
in chapter 2, verse 4?
And thirdly,
how are we
filled with the Holy Spirit?
So that's the framework
for this morning.
Right?
I'm stepping a little bit
outside of the text.
Right?
So we're not verse by verse
this morning.
A lot of that detail
was given last week.
But these three questions
need to be answered.
And I want to answer them
in their entirety.
I really want to give you
the complete systematic
presentation of life
in and by the Spirit.
I just can't.
It's impossible to do it
in the time frame
we have this morning.
So what I want to give to you
is the answers
to these questions.
Not exhaustively,
but I hope amply
for you to begin
going from here
and considering this
and to have a very clear
understanding
as we move forward
in our study
of the book of Acts.
So first question.
What is the baptism
of the Holy Spirit
that Jesus promises
in chapter 1,
verse 5?
And to answer that question,
we need to look
at how this phrase
is used
in the New Testament.
Not just to see it here,
but to see other places
that it's used.
And it's only used
in the New Testament
seven times.
Four times
as the prediction
of John the Baptist
concerning Jesus.
So four of these times
are the accounts
of the Gospel writers,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
of the same prediction
that John the Baptist gave.
I'll read it to you
from Matthew 3, verse 11.
I, this is John speaking,
baptized you with water
for repentance,
but he who is coming after me
is mightier than I,
whose sandals
I am not worthy
to carry,
speaking of Christ,
he will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit
and fire.
This is also found
in Mark 1.8,
Luke 3.16,
and John 1.33.
So, those are the first
four times
that this phrasing
is used.
The next two passages
refer directly to
the day of Pentecost.
We just read
Acts 1.5.
So that's the fifth
accounting of it
that Jesus says,
you heard from me
for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.
And then again
in the book of Acts,
so this is the sixth time,
Acts 11.16,
where Peter is speaking
and he's referring
back to the words of Christ
that we have recorded
in chapter 1, verse 5.
It's recorded,
11.16,
the book of Acts,
and I remembered
the word of the Lord,
how he said,
John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit.
So the first six times
this phrasing is used,
it's all,
it's talking about
what will happen
and then
what has happened.
Right?
So, five talking about
what will,
the sixth one talking about
what has happened.
But when we get to
the book of 1 Corinthians,
chapter 12,
Paul helps us
a bit more understand
what all of this means.
He gives us some commentary
on it.
Verses 12-13,
after speaking of the various
spiritual gifts
in which God imparts
by the Spirit of God,
he says,
for just as the body
is one
and has many members
and all the members
of the body,
though many,
are one body,
so it is with Christ.
For in one Spirit
we were all baptized
into one body.
Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free,
and all were made
to drink
of one Spirit.
Now,
we have to be careful
in our hermeneutic
understanding,
which is the study
of how to study
the Scripture,
to know that
not every phrase
is used in every place
in the same way.
So, hear me saying
that I recognize that.
We can't always draw
connections between phrases
every single time.
Sometimes,
metaphors are used
interchangeably
in different ways,
and it would be
dangerous to always
make them synonymous
no matter
what.
However,
if we have a broader
biblical understanding
and we take into account
passages like
Romans 8-9,
where Paul says,
anyone who does not have
the Spirit of Christ
does not belong
to Him.
We could take a step
back and over
to 1 Corinthians 12,
12-13,
and understand
what it is
that he's saying.
The Spirit
was the element
in which the
Corinthian believers
were baptized,
was the element
in which they were
baptized,
which moved them
positionally
into the church.
They were baptized
in the Spirit
and found themselves
as part
of this body
of Christ.
I'm going to read it
to you again
with that framework.
Think about
verses 12-13
in 1 Corinthians 12.
For just as the body
is one
and has many members
and all the members
of the body,
though many,
are one body,
so it is
with Christ.
For in one Spirit
we were all baptized
into one body,
Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free,
and all were made
to drink
of one Spirit.
So,
to be baptized
in the Holy Spirit
is to be
regenerate.
I read to you
from Ezekiel
at the very outset
of this morning
that God
gives us
His Spirit.
He replaces
our heart
of stone
that we inherited
from Adam,
from our
old father.
He gives us
a heart of flesh.
We now have
the righteousness
of Christ
and we place
faith in Him
for it.
So,
to be baptized
in the Holy Spirit
is to be
regenerate.
So,
Jesus promises
something here,
Acts 1-5,
that this baptism
will take place.
Later we have
an account
in chapter 2,
verse 4,
that they were
filled with the Spirit
and I think
the challenge there
is that the outset
you want to make
those two things
synonymous.
That being baptized
and being filled
is the same thing.
And what I'm suggesting
to you is that it is
not the same thing.
That both things
were fulfilled.
They both happened
in chapter 2.
That they were
both baptized,
Jesus did not lie,
they were baptized
in the Spirit
and,
verse 4 begins,
and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit.
I'm going to
work that out for you
in just a bit.
But that both
things happen.
Now,
with that said,
I do not believe
that the disciples
were converted
at this point
in Acts 2
because...
I know I'm
contradicting myself.
I know I'm
contradicting myself.
Because they had
already given evidence
of repentance and faith.
So follow me
with the text.
I want you to go to
Matthew chapter 16.
My water cup
has a handle today.
I have a water mug.
So I've said to you,
I've made the statement
that baptism
in the Holy Spirit
is the same
as regeneration.
That we're baptized
into the church.
That if you are
a follower of Christ,
you have been baptized
in the Spirit.
So I've made that
statement to you.
Now I'm saying
that at this point,
Acts chapter 2,
I do not believe
that this is when
the disciples
became believers.
This is when
they were regenerate.
Let me show you why
I believe that to be the case.
Matthew 16,
beginning in verse 13.
Now when Jesus came
into the district
of Caesarea Philippi,
He asked His disciples,
who do people say
that the Son of Man is?
And they said,
some say John the Baptist,
others say Elijah,
and others Jeremiah,
one of the prophets.
He said to them,
but who do you say
that I am?
Simon Peter replied,
you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered him,
blessed are you,
Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you,
but my Father
who is in heaven.
So there's a spiritual work
happening at least
in the life of Peter
at this time.
Right?
Something has been revealed
to him from heaven.
I would argue
by the Spirit of God.
Okay?
So there's something
happening here.
He's believing
that Jesus is the Christ.
There's some evidence
of regeneration
at this point.
Now turn to John chapter 6.
I'm going to begin reading
in verse 52.
This is after a lengthy teaching
of Jesus
that he's the bread of life.
Verse 52,
John records,
the Jews then disputed
among themselves,
saying,
how can this man
give us his flesh
to eat?
It's the bread of life.
How is it that he's going
to actually feed us
with his physical body?
Which is not what he meant.
Jesus goes on to clarify.
Verse 53,
So Jesus said to them,
Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you have no life in you.
Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him up
on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Let me pause for just
a quick second
and speak about
transubstantiation,
where some believe
that the elements
of the Lord's Supper
actually become
the body and blood
of Christ,
if that's consistent,
then they should not
have to eat
until they do it again.
If we're taking this
at face value,
that he's not speaking
metaphorically,
then that's fantastic,
because food is expensive.
Verse 56,
Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
abides in me
and I in him.
As the living Father
sent me,
and I live because
of the Father,
so whoever feeds on me,
he also will live
because of me.
This is the bread
that came down from heaven,
not like the bread
the fathers ate
and died.
Whoever feeds on this bread
will live forever.
Jesus said these things
in the synagogue
as he taught at Capernaum.
When many of his disciples
heard it,
people that are following
him around at the time,
they said,
this is a hard saying.
Who can listen to it?
But Jesus,
knowing in himself
that his disciples
were grumbling about this,
said to them,
do you take offense at this?
Then what if you were
to see the Son of Man
ascending to where
he was before?
It is the Spirit
who gives life.
The flesh is no help at all.
The words that I have spoken
to you are spirit and life.
But there are some of you
who do not believe.
So catch,
the positive of that
negative statement,
there are some of you
who do not believe,
is that some of you
do believe.
For Jesus knew from the beginning
who those were
who did not believe
and who it was
who would betray him.
Verse 65,
and he said,
this is why I told you
that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him
by the Father.
So he has said,
some of you
don't believe,
which means some of you
do believe,
and no one comes to me
unless it is granted him
by the Father.
After this,
many of his disciples
turned back
and no longer
walked with him.
A bunch of them
bugged out.
So Jesus said to the twelve,
do you want to go away
as well?
Simon Peter answered him,
Lord,
to whom shall we go?
You have the words
of eternal life
and we have believed
and have come to know
that you
are the Holy One
of God.
So again,
evidencing,
there's a profession
once again
of who Jesus is.
At this hard-to-understand thing.
It's not that the disciples
were brilliant
and they figured it out.
It was that the Father
had drawn them
to Christ.
Like, they're still
scratching their heads
just like the other disciples,
but the other ones
go away scratching their heads.
They stay
and Peter says,
you are the Holy One
of God.
So there's a work
happening in their lives
while they're with Jesus.
John 20,
21 and 22,
you can turn there
if you want to,
but I'm going to get into it
for the sake of time.
Verse 21,
Jesus said to them again,
after His resurrection,
peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me,
even so,
I am sending you.
And when He had said this,
He breathed on them
and said to them,
receive the Holy Spirit.
I must admit,
I don't fully comprehend
what is happening
right here
in John 20,
21 and 22.
I don't fully comprehend it
because later we see
in the book of Acts,
He's telling them to
stay and wait for what?
For the Holy Spirit.
He's suggesting to them,
don't get going
on the mission yet.
kind of spoken the mission,
the Great Commission
has been given to you.
Don't get going on that yet
because you need
the power of God
to carry out
the purpose of God.
But here,
something happens.
And Jesus says to them,
receive the Holy Spirit
as He breathes on them.
Okay?
So what's important here
is to remember
that as we read
these historical accounts,
we're observing
a transition
between the two economies
of the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament
and up until this time
where we're looking
in Acts chapter 2,
this point in history,
this day of Pentecost,
He came and He rested
on men
to empower them
for specific tasks
at specific times.
And then He would depart.
That was the way
the Spirit worked
in the old economy
of the Spirit.
He would come,
He was given by God,
He would come,
rest on somebody
for a specific task
at a specific time
and then would be removed.
Okay?
Now,
in starting here,
Acts 2 and moving forward,
He comes and indwells
a follower of Christ
and empowers them
for a specific task.
Right?
That is the exaltation
of Jesus Christ
all of the time.
You see the difference?
Specific tasks
for a specific period of time.
Now,
for a specific task,
all of the time.
He indwells
within us.
He doesn't come and go.
He is ours.
So,
I do not think
that the promise
in chapter 1,
verse 5 of Acts,
that the disciples
will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now,
and the fact
that they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit
in 2,
4
are synonymous,
but rather that both happen.
This is what I was
suggesting to you before.
It's an interesting
in-between time.
And it's hard
for us to comprehend.
And that's why
we must let Scripture
interpret Scripture.
We have to pull
the rest of the account
together.
We have to look
at the rest
of the writing
to try to properly
suss out
what this means
for us.
What happened,
I think,
is that both
happened at this time.
They were baptized
into the church.
They were unified
by the gift
of the Spirit.
And they were filled
with the Holy Spirit,
which empowers them
for speaking
the mighty works
of God,
verse 11,
in other tongues
as the Spirit
gave them utterance.
So they were filled
with the Spirit,
which is evidenced
by their obedience.
They began to do
the very thing
that Jesus had instructed
them to do
many times.
Certainly you can find it
in chapter 1,
verse 8.
You will be my witnesses.
Jerusalem,
Judea,
Samaria,
and to the end
of the earth.
They just begin
to do the thing
that God
had commanded them
to do.
To sum that up,
what it means
to be baptized
by the Spirit
is to be regenerate.
To be saved by God
and welcomed
into the church.
This is a one-time thing.
It is solely
the work of God.
It's monergistic
in that way.
He puts His Spirit
within you.
He changes you.
This brings about
repentance,
faith,
obedience.
That's baptized
in the Spirit.
Okay,
second question.
I'm going to try
to pull it together
all for you.
What is meant
by they were all
filled
with the Holy Spirit
in chapter 2,
verse 4?
Now,
in the past weeks,
and I apologize
for those of you
who haven't been here,
but I've been priming
the pump
to answer this question.
I've been setting you up
for the answer
to this question
by reminding you
one of our goals
for the study
of the book of Acts.
Goal number 3.
To pay
careful attentions
to the means
and ways
of the Holy Spirit.
And I've been telling you
that the primary role
of the Spirit of God
is the exaltation
of Jesus Christ
in the salvation
and perfection
of His church.
This is job number one.
There are other things
that the Spirit of God does,
but this is job number one.
The exaltation
of Jesus Christ
in the salvation
and perfection
of His church.
And the primary means
by which He accomplishes this
is the Word of God
spoken
by the people of God.
He empowers
that activity.
The Word of God
spoken
by the people of God.
In our text today,
we see the first record
of those ways.
Speaking the Word of God
in a rather miraculous way.
In languages
that these people
could understand.
I've also
tried to prime you
for the answer
I'm working toward
by showing you
that the disciples
were not gathered
in this place
praying for the baptism
or for the filling
of the Holy Spirit.
And I'm not suggesting
that we can't pray
for the filling
of the Holy Spirit.
What I'm saying is
they weren't working out
some training.
They hadn't attended
some seminar
that taught them
if you just do
the following steps
then this will happen.
So it's not
the way in which
God sends the Spirit
or fills us
by the Spirit.
If you look at
chapter 2 verse 2
Luke records for us
they're in a house
and they're sitting.
Why would he record
such an obtuse detail?
Because it's not.
He's telling us
that they were sitting
because that's not
the way they would have
been praying.
They're sitting
and this thing
surprised them.
They're baptized
and they're filled.
So I've been
priming you
to rightly understand
what is happening here
and therefore
what this means
for us
by speaking
against
kind of
subversively
a popular belief
in our day
called
Pentecostalism.
Many, many
Pentecostal
denominations.
And I'm going to
paint with a broad brush.
I know people
who are part of
Pentecostal denominations
that are
to be admired.
They get so
much
so
right.
There are
some things
that we can
learn from
and benefit
from
Pentecostal
some
things
about the work
of the Spirit
of God.
But generally
speaking
broad brush
hear me
with humility
saying this
I don't pretend
to have it all
figured out.
I know there's
so much
that I don't
know
but with a
broad brush
Pentecostalism
is dangerous.
In order to be
known for what
I'm for
which is
ultimately my
aim
and I want you
to know
what I believe
to be true
at times
I need to tell
you what I'm
against.
It just
helps to say
not this
but this
at times
to do that.
So hear what I'm
trying to say to you.
I'm humbly
just trying to show
you what the
Word of God
has to say
about the
filling
and the
baptism
of the
Holy Spirit.
I'm
anti-Pentecostalism
because
generally
it's not
biblical.
They use
extra-biblical
and unbiblical
language
to speak
of a second
experience
of the Christian
faith
called
baptism
in the
Spirit.
This is why
I started.
What is the
baptism
of the
Spirit?
They use this
term in a
much different
way.
A second
experience
of an
indwelling,
of a pouring
out of the
Spirit of
God.
At best
they use
this
to divide
saved people
into two
classes.
So you've
got
unsaved
people,
people who
have not
placed faith
in Jesus
Christ
as a
separate
category.
Then saved
people,
they divide
into two
classes.
Those
who are
ordinary
Christians
and those
who are
Spirit-baptized
Christians.
This is
dangerous,
beloved.
This is not
the nature
of sanctification.
You are
not in
Christ or
you are
in Christ.
These are
the categories.
This is
the way
that the
Scripture
speaks about
it.
It does
not divide
believing
people into
two
categories.
We have
gifting
in various
form and
in various
measure.
We are
at different
places in
the sanctification
process.
There are
some that
are more
mature than
others,
but we
are not
classified
into
different
categories.
There is
no clergy
laity type
of distinction
amongst the
people of
God.
At best,
that's what
it does.
At worst,
many Pentecostals
believe that
unless you
do miraculous
things like
speak in
tongues,
that you're
not saved
at all.
They often
elevate,
often,
not always,
but they
often elevate
mindless
experience
over
the Scripture.
John Arnott,
a popular
Pentecostal
writer,
wrote,
do not
take
control,
do not
resist,
do not
analyze,
don't think
about what
you're doing,
just surrender
to his
love.
You can
analyze the
experience
later,
just let
it happen.
Beloved,
we are
meant to
be a
mindful
people,
never
mindless.
At the
biblical
counseling and
discipleship
training that
we were at
this weekend,
if you
heard me
talk about
that in
previous
months,
I appreciated
Dr.
Stuart Scott
said that
most of
who we
are,
most of
our
personality,
rather than
thinking of
it as
residing
our heart
in our
chest,
it really
resides
between
our
ears.
We're
meant to
be mindful
people,
never
mindless.
Think
about
Romans
12,
2.
Paul
says,
do not
be
conformed
to this
world,
but be
transformed
by what?
The renewal
of your
feelings,
by being
renewed,
by seeking
out
experience,
your mind,
by the
renewal of
your mind.
And anyone
who tells you
that the
Christian life
is divorced
from thinking
should be
avoided.
they often
elevate the
work of
the Spirit,
real or
supposed,
and worship
Him over
Christ.
So this is
back to my
previous point.
The primary
job of the
Spirit of
God is the
exaltation of
Jesus Christ.
Many old
theologians got
it right when
they called
Him the
shy Spirit.
The Spirit
of God
says,
not me,
Christ.
And when
a denominational
system worships
the Spirit
and the work
of the Spirit,
that's a really
dangerous thing.
I'll show you
from the
Scripture,
John 16,
12-15.
Jesus says to
the disciples,
I still have
many things
to say to
you,
but you
cannot bear
them now.
When the
Spirit of
truth comes,
He will
guide you
into all
the truth,
for He
will not
speak on
His own
authority,
but whatever
He hears,
He will
speak,
and He
will declare
to you the
things that
are to
come.
Verse 14,
He will
glorify
me.
The job
of the
Spirit,
He will
glorify
me,
Christ
is speaking
here,
for He
will take
what is
mine and
declare it
to you.
All that
the Father
has is
mine,
therefore I
said that
He will
take what
is mine,
He will
declare it
to you.
This is
the job
of the
Spirit
of God.
There's a
quotation on
the front of
your bulletin
written in
nine-point
Helvetica so I
can get it
to fit.
But I
know it's
helpful for
you to
see it,
so I
hope you
can see
it.
Let me
try to
read it
to you
carefully
by the
late
preacher
Martin
Lloyd
Jones.
He
says,
The
Spirit
does not
glorify
Himself.
He
glorifies
the
Son.
This
is to
me
one of
the
most
amazing
and
remarkable
things
about
the
biblical
doctrine
of the
Holy
Spirit.
The
Holy
Spirit
seems to
hide
Himself
and to
conceal
Himself.
He
is always
as it
were,
putting
the
focus
on
the
Son.
And
that is
why I
believe,
and I
believe
profoundly,
that the
best test
of all
as to
whether we
have received
the
Spirit
is to
ask
ourselves,
what do
we think
of and
what do
we know
about
the
Son?
Is the
Son real
to us?
That is
the work
of the
Spirit.
He is
glorified
indirectly.
He is
always
pointing us
to the
Son.
And so
you see
how easily
we go
astray
and become
heretical
if we
concentrate
over much
and in
an unscriptural
manner
upon the
Spirit
Himself.
Yes,
we must
realize
that He
dwells
within us.
Not to
minimize that,
right?
He does
in fact
dwell within
us,
but His
work in
dwelling
within us
is to
glorify
the
Son and
to bring
to us
that
blessed
knowledge
of the
Son and
of His
wondrous
love to
us.
It is
He
who
strengthens
us
with the
might
in the
inner
man
that we
may
know
this
love,
this
love
of
Christ.
This
is the
job
of the
Spirit.
This is
why
Paul
prays
for the
church in
Ephesus.
It's recorded
in chapter
3,
verse 14
and 19.
For this
reason I
bow my
knees before
the Father.
That He's
about to
say,
this is
the reason
I bow
my knees
before the
Father,
from whom
every family
in heaven
on earth
is named,
that according
to the
riches of
His glory
He may
grant you
to be
strengthened
with power
through His
Spirit in
your inner
being.
Why?
Strengthened
with power
through His
Spirit in
your inner
being.
Verse 17,
so that
Christ may
dwell in
your hearts
through faith,
that you
being rooted
and grounded
in love,
the love
of Christ,
may have
strength to
comprehend
with all
the saints
what is the
breadth and
length and
height and
depth,
and to
know the
love of
Christ that
surpasses
knowledge,
that you
may be
filled with
all the
fullness
of God.
Are you
seeing it?
So,
to be
filled with
the Holy
Spirit is
not a
secondary,
necessarily
miraculous
experience of
the Christian
life,
but rather
it's the
normative
experience of
the Christian
life that's
yielded to
God.
It's
normative,
and it
evidences
itself in
obedience.
You want
to know if
you're filled
with the
Spirit?
When you're
obedient.
When you're
obedient,
you're filled
with the
Spirit.
In our
text this
morning,
in verse
4,
the disciples
are filled
with the
Holy Spirit,
and then
what do
they do?
They're
obedient.
They do
it in a
really
miraculous
way.
I'm not
going to
discount
that,
but the
point is,
the driving
point is,
they were
obedient.
They were
telling the
mighty works
of God,
which they
have been
commanded
to do.
They were
to be
witnesses.
And this
is exactly
the activity
that they
are doing
as the
Spirit
gives them
utterance.
Being filled
with the
Spirit
brings about
obedience.
I'm going to
show you
through Acts
quickly.
I just want
you to
track me.
Don't try
to turn.
I just
gave you
the first
one,
Acts 2
verse 11.
They're
speaking the
mighty works
of God.
In Acts
4.8,
it's recorded
again that
Peter is
filled with
the Holy
Spirit and
speaks with
such power
that the
Jewish leaders
were amazed
at his
boldness in
spite of
his being
relatively
uneducated.
That's
chapter 4
verse 13.
He speaks
with power.
Acts 4.31,
other disciples
were praying
in the place
where they
were shaken,
they were
filled with
the Holy
Spirit.
The effect
of their
fullness was
that they
spoke the
word of
God with
extraordinary
boldness and
Christ-exalting
power.
In Acts 6,
we meet
Stephen,
who is full
of faith
in the Holy
Spirit,
verse 5,
and Luke
tells us
in verse 8
that he
was therefore
full of
power and
did wonders
and signs
among the
people,
but especially
in verse 10,
the leaders
could not
resist the
wisdom and
spirit with
which he
spoke.
In Acts 9.17,
Paul is filled
with the Holy
Spirit at his
conversion,
and the result
was that he
spoke,
with such
extraordinary
power that
the Jews
of Damascus
were confounded,
chapter 9,
verse 22.
Acts 11,
verse 24,
Barnabas was
full of the
Holy Spirit
and faith,
and the effect
Luke mentions
was that a
large company
was added to
the Lord.
So he's
speaking again
the truth
of God.
So,
it brings
about obedience.
Now,
there are
respected,
conservative,
evangelicals
that I
look to
for many
answers to
help comprehend
and understand.
I'm not going
to name their
names for you
because it
might make
me look
really foolish,
but that
suggests
that this
filling of the
Holy Spirit
is a thing
that we
should be
longing for.
It's a thing
that we
should be
looking to
and longing
for in our
lives.
We want
extra
empowering.
And we
do.
I want
my ministry
to be
effective.
I want
the Spirit
of God
to work
mightily
in His
people
through my
preaching.
These are
good things
to long
for,
but what
we're hoping
for is the
miraculous.
That suddenly
I begin to
speak to you
in different
languages,
or I'm
healing people,
or these are
the types
of things
that we
should be
longing to
see happen.
That is
what is
meant by
the
filling of
the Spirit.
But I
have a
problem
with that
because
Paul
commands
Christians
to be
filled
with the
Spirit.
Not this
thing in
our life
that we
may not
experience,
that we
should long
for,
like regular
Christians
hoping for
this extra
outpouring,
but Paul
commands it,
suggests that
it's normative
that Christian
people should
be filled
with the
Spirit.
Ephesians,
turn to
Ephesians
chapter 5.
I want you
to see this
for yourself.
beginning in
verse 18.
And do
not get
drunk with
wine.
Do not
have one
thing control
you,
is what he's
saying,
for that is
debauchery,
but be
filled
with the
Spirit.
The
sentence
doesn't
stop
there.
This
is not
a list
of
things
to do.
Be
filled
with
the
Spirit
and
do
this
and
do
this
and
do
this.
He's
saying,
be
filled
with
the
Spirit
and
here's
what
that
will
look
like.
This
is what's
going to
happen
if you're
filled
with
the
Spirit.
Verse 19,
addressing
one another
in
psalms and
hymns,
spiritual
songs,
singing and
making melody
to the
Lord with
your
heart,
giving
thanks
always and
wives,
submit to
your own
husbands as
to the
Lord.
For the
husband that
has the
wife is
Christ the
head of
the
church,
his body
and
his
Savior.
I'm reading fast
for the sake
of time.
Now,
as the
church submits
itself to
Christ,
also wives
submits
everything to
their
husbands.
Husbands,
love your
wives as
Christ the
church gave
himself up
for her.
These are
the things
you will
be doing
if you
are filled
!
with the
Spirit.
Do we as
Christian
people get
to discount
these things
because we're
not filled
with the
Spirit?
If I don't
love Sam the
way he's
commanded me
to love
Sam,
my wife's
name is
Sam,
if you
don't know
me,
do I go,
well,
I've been
hoping,
I've been
praying for
this miraculous
filling of
the Spirit
so that I
can,
and I just
haven't been
able to,
no!
I'm commanded
to do these
things and the
way in which
I do them
is I'm filled
with the Spirit.
Are you
catching it?
Dan Phillips,
a contemporary
pastor,
wrote this,
show me a
person obsessed
with the
Holy Spirit
and his
gifts,
real or
imagined,
and I
will show
you a
person not
filled with
the Holy
Spirit.
Show me a
person focused
on the
person and
work of
Jesus Christ,
never tiring
of learning
about him,
thinking about
him,
boasting
of him,
speaking about
and for
and to
him,
thrilled
and entranced
with his
perfections
and beauty,
finding ways
to serve
and exalt
him,
tirelessly
exploring ways
to spend
and be
spent for
him,
growing in
character to
be more
and more
like him,
and I
will show
you a
person who
is filled
with the
Holy Spirit.
So that's
what it means
to be filled
with the
Spirit.
How are we
to be filled
with the
Holy Spirit?
Number three.
Third question,
how are we
to be filled
with the
Holy Spirit?
So if you
are in
Christ,
if you
place
believing
faith in
him,
you have
been
baptized
in the
Holy Spirit,
you have
the Holy
Spirit,
right?
So catch
that,
you've
got to
get that.
He
exists
within
you,
but it
is possible
as
Christian
people
to not
walk
by that
Spirit.
It's
possible
to not
be
filled
by the
Spirit,
right?
How do
we know
we're
filled
with
him?
Because
we're
obedient,
right?
Because
we're
fulfilling
the commands
of God
by his
power at
work
within
us.
So if
we find
ourselves
in that
place,
and we
do so
often,
right?
Transgressing
the law
of Christ,
what are we
supposed to be
doing as
Christian
people?
Our
sanctification
is a
synergistic
activity,
right?
We're not
passive agents
in the
process.
We're
told to
do things,
to be
active,
to be
moving,
right?
All of
this by
the power
of God
at work
within
us,
by the
Spirit,
let me
show you
the primary
way in
which we
are filled
with the
Spirit.
Turn to
Colossians
chapter 3.
This is a
parallel
text to
what I
just read
to you,
Ephesians
5,
18-25.
And the
reason I
read it
all to
you,
even though
I know
I read
it so
extremely
fast,
you
couldn't
understand
what I
was
saying.
I'm
not
sure I
actually
said
all
the
words,
but I
wanted
you to
see the
parallel
between
the
two.
Okay?
Beginning
in verse
16,
there's
not much
different
about
these
two
passages.
There's
not a
lot
different
except
the
beginning
of
verse
16.
Okay,
so let
me
remind
you,
verse
18,
chapter
5 of
Ephesians,
and do
not get
drunk
with
wine,
for that
is
debauchery,
but be
filled
with the
Holy
Spirit.
Colossians
3,
beginning
of
verse
16,
let
the
word
of
Christ
dwell
in
you
richly.
Paul
uses
the
phrase,
let
the
word
of
Christ
dwell
in
you
richly,
interchangeably,
with
be filled,
do not
be drunk
with
wine,
but be
filled
with the
Holy
Spirit.
Look,
he goes
on,
teaching
and admonishing
one another
in all
wisdom,
singing
songs and
hymns and
spiritual songs
with
thankfulness
in your
hearts
to God,
and
whatever
you do
in word
or deed,
do
everything
in the
name
of
the
Lord
Jesus,
giving
thanks
to God
the
Father
through
him.
Wives,
submit to
your
husbands as
is fitting
in the
Lord.
Husbands,
love your
wives and
do not
be harsh
with
them.
You see
the parallel
connection
between
those two
texts
now.
It's not
like I
went and
unlocked
this.
Oh,
parallel
texts,
and these
have to
be
synonymous
things.
It's
not the
only
place
that
Paul
speaks
in
this
way.
Another
example,
Romans
chapter
8,
beginning
in
verse
5.
He
writes,
for those
who live
according
to the
flesh
set
their
minds
on the
things
of the
flesh.
But
those
who
live
according
to
the
Spirit
set
their
minds
on the
things
of the
Spirit.
You're
catching
the
mind.
The
activity
of the
mind
is part
of this
process
in here.
Not
their
emotions,
not
their
experiences,
not
a void
in their
brain,
but their
mind.
They
set
their
minds
On
the
things
of the
!
Spirit.
Verse
!
6.
For
to
set
the
mind
on
the
flesh
is
death,
but
to
set
the
mind
on
the
Spirit
is
life
and
peace,
fruit,
obedience,
coming out
of
setting
your
mind
on
the
thing
of
the
Spirit.
And
my
argument
is
that
is
to
be
filled
with
the
Spirit.
Verse
7.
For
the
mind
that
is
set
on
the
flesh
is
hostile
toward
God,
for
it
does
not
submit
!
to
God's
law,
indeed
it
cannot,
for
those
who
are
in
the
flesh
cannot
please
God.
So the
primary
activity
and the
primary
way
that
we
as
the
people
of
God
are
filled
with
the
Spirit
is
that
we
know
this
book,
that
we
are
engrossed
with
it,
that
it
saturates
us,
the
Holy
Writ,
the
Scripture,
the 66
books of
the Old
and the
New
Testament.
I'm
going to
look for
some
opportunities
as we
go
through
Acts,
I'm
sure
they
will
abound
for
me
to
teach
you
some
of
the
Bible's
canonical
veracity.
Why do
we
believe
that
these
are
the
66
inspired
books
of
the
Old
and
New
Testament?
They
were
inspired
by
God,
spoken
into
men,
written
down,
that
they
were
expired
!
by
him,
all
scriptures
breathed
out
by
God,
that
he
is
such,
like
we
pick
it
up
as
such.
The
creator
of
all
the
universe
condescended
to become
an author
spoke
through
men to
write
stuff
down
so that
we
as a
people
who
use
language
to
communicate
ideas
have
something
we can
hold
in our
hands
to
understand
what
we
need
to
know
about
who
he
is
and
how
we're
meant
to
operate
in
relationship
to
him.
And
beloved,
I put
myself
in this
place
as
well.
we
neglect
this
book
far
too
much.
The
disobedience
in your
life
is
almost
always
a
direct
response
to
your
lack
of
understanding
of the
word
of
God.
You
don't
fill
yourself
up
with
it
and
it
evidences
itself
in
your
disobedience.
Now
that is
not to
say
that
simply
having
knowledge
of
the
Bible
I
know
unbelieving
people
that
read
the
Bible.
I
know
unbelieving
people
who
have
searched
the
religious
books
that
didn't
come to
saving
faith
in
Christ
as a
result
of
reading
and
knowing.
I
know
some
unbelieving
people
who
have
a
clearer
theology
because
they're
thinkers
and they
read
the
Bible
than
some
Christians
that
I
know.
It's
frightening.
But
this
is
the
tool.
If we're
to set
our
mind
on
the
things
of
the
Spirit,
what are
those
things?
That's
the
book
that
he
wrote.
These
are
the
things
of
the
Spirit
that
we're
to
set
our
minds
on.
This
is
the
tool
that
the
Spirit
of
God
uses
to bring
about
change
in our
lives.
At
times
it's
the
sword
he
wields.
At
times
it's
the
scalpel
that
he
uses
to bring
about
the
necessary
change.
And
if we
are
reading
and
meditating
on
the
Scripture
the
Spirit
of
God
will
use
it
to
bring
about
obedience
in
us.
We
will
be
filled
with
the
Spirit.
Eastern
religions
have
stolen
the
idea
of
meditation
from
us
and
made
it
a
mindless
thing.
Meditation
is not
a
mindless
thing.
Meditation
is a
mindful
thing.
It's
reading
the
Word
of
God.
It's
considering
the
Word
of
God.
It's
to
the
Word
of
God.
And
all
of
this
the
Spirit
is
mixed
in
the
middle
of
helping
us
understand
spiritual
things
and
giving
them
right
and
proper
application
in
our
lives.
If
we're
not
obedient
and
we're
not
we
find
ourselves
in
sin
we
commit
these
acts
of
sin
it's
not
because
we
need
to
try
harder
because
we
need
to
go
back
to
the
source
of
filling.
We need
to be
filled
by
the
Spirit
so that
we
won't
be
disobedient
so that
we
won't
fulfill
the
desires
of
the
flesh.
We
need
to be
back
here
saturating
ourselves
letting
the
Word
of
Christ
dwell
in
us
richly.
And
this is
what it
means
to be
baptized
to be
filled
and this
is the
way
in which
we are
filled.
Let's
pray
together.